Finding Home
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Kendall's receives a gift she doesn't want. She gives it to the Rangers. What they do with it will show her what it truly means to be part of a family.
1. A Father's Gift

_Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Dino Charge. This story is fan-made._

Kendall was up late, working in her office. Since discovering the Aqua Energem had bonded to someone and since Fury had taken off with the gold charger, she had been too busy working on her Ranger duties to put any attention into the museum. As a result, she had let her work for the building fall behind, and needed to spend the better part of the night trying to play catch up. It was the hardest part about working a top secret job. She couldn't tell anyone at the museum why she was getting behind, and if she let herself slip back any further, people were going to start assuming she was lazy and unfocused.

It wasn't that she minded working. She loved it. When she lost herself in her research she felt more at home than anywhere else. Her work needed her and it was about the only thing that did. However, it was getting late. Even with her glasses on, the letters were starting to blur. Kendall had worked well into the night and made a lot of progress. It should hold the museum over for a couple of days, at least.

She packed up her things and started to make her way out. The museum parking lot fortunately wasn't very far, so Kendall didn't need to worry about walking in the dark on her own. However, as soon as she turned the corner, she saw the figure of a man hanging around the parking lot. The museum had closed hours ago. Only janitorial staff and one guard were still inside, and they weren't supposed to leave the building for any reason. To have someone hanging around, especially at this hour, meant trouble.

So Kendall turned around, with the intention of heading back inside and sleeping in her lab. It wasn't ever ideal. There was only a cot, and Koda's snores echoed loudly in the caves. But it was better than taking her chances with the mysterious figure in the parking lot. But no sooner did she turn, did she hear her name and her heart froze. It was a voice she wished she had forgotten. A voice that she wished would leave her dream alone. The man ran up behind her and caught her arm. Kendall tried to pull away and started to shout, but he put his hand over her mouth.

"Shh, no, no. None of that," he told her, and held her against himself as she tried to push him away. "Oh, come on. I've been out here for hours. Just give me a..."

Kendall wouldn't do anything for this man, and pushed her elbow back into his ribs. He let out a deep, pained breathe and let her go slightly. It was enough for Kendall to push him away and run back to the museum door. Unfortunately, she had locked it on the way out, and had to go digging through her bag to get the keys again. It gave this man enough time to catch up to her again. He grabbed her arm, pulled her away from the door, then pushed her into the ground.

"Dad! Stop it!" Kendall finally shouted as he came closer. He sighed, and offered his hand to help her up. She didn't take it, and got to her feet without his help. "The last thing I ever thought I'd have to get was a restraining order against you."

"No need. I'm not staying."

"Kind of your motto, isn't it?" Kendall growled. She picked up her bag, and now found the keys to the museum. "Get out of my way, dad. Whatever it is you've got to say, I don't want to hear it."

"I have a gift for you," he told her and reached into the bag he had been carrying on his back. "Happy birthday."

"You're about a month too late," she said. "Besides, I don't do birthday presents anymore."

The latter was true, but it wasn't by choice. Her mother, before she killed herself, had gotten Kendall a little present every year for her birthday. After her death, when Kendall moved in with her foster family, they tried to make a big deal out of her birthday. They often tried to throw a party, which Kendall never enjoyed, and her foster parents and brother would all get her a couple of gifts.

But once she left, she was on her own. She hadn't made any friends and never shared her birthday with acquaintances. They would pass without anyone being the wiser. Usually, Kendall would buy herself a slice of cake from the bakery on her way home and eat it for dinner. But that was as far as birthdays went for her.

"I know I'm not a good father," Mr. Morgan said with a sigh and offered her an envelope. "But now that I know where you are..."

"Now that you know where I am?" Kendall asked with a growl. "I was never hiding from you, dad! You left us! We lived in the same house you abandoned us in! When I moved in with the Fishers, I mailed you my address! You had twelve years to come back before I left for college!"

"Kendall..."

"So no, dad, I don't want your stupid belated birthday present. I don't want anything from you..."

"For goodness sake, Kendall, just take it," her father offered the envelope again. Kendall shook her head and smacked it from his hand. He growled and picked it up.

"Just like your mother," he muttered as he brushed away some dirt. "Ungrateful."

"Get lost, dad," Kendall whispered and turned to the museum. Her father reached out, snatched the keys from her hand and held them up high. Kendall growled. Even in her heels, she couldn't reach high enough to snatch them back. When it came to her height, she couldn't doubt she had taken after her mother. "Dad!"

With his other hand, he offered the envelope, "Take it, then I give you back your keys."

"You know what, keep them," Kendall shook her head, then reached into her bag and pulled out her car keys. "Trash the museum. See if I care. I'm going home. Don't follow me."

As Kendall walked towards her car, Mr. Morgan followed her. He kept the museum keys in his hands.

"Kendall, for once, can you just be reasonable?"

Kendall ignored him as she got into the car. Just as she was about to close the door, her father stepped in her way.

"I'll run you over," she told him. "Move it."

He put the museum keys in his bag then offered the envelope again. "Take it."

"I don't want it."

"I'll count to three!"

Kendall looked up at her father annoyed, "I'm twenty-six. You left me twenty years ago. Counting to three won't do anything."

"One."

"Dad, get out of the way," Kendall said and tried to close the door, but her father didn't move.

"Two."

She smacked the car door into his side, hoping that would discourage him and make him leave.

"Three," he growled and grabbed her arm roughly. He started to pull her from the car and dragged her out on the ground.

"Dad! Stop it!" she shouted again, and hurried to her feet to get away from him. She would run home on foot if she had to. Her father was stubborn. As she tried to run, he caught her arm again. He pulled her back, then punched her in the stomach.

"Take the fucking cash, you ungrateful little bitch!" he shouted and slapped the envelope against her chest. Kendall still clutched her stomach, so didn't take the envelope with her father tried to force her. Instead, it fell to the ground.

Her father had a quick temper. He always had, and he had always been stubborn. Kendall had been just a kid, sitting at the top of the stairs when her parents fought, but she knew his quick temper and his will for people to act in ways that pleased him had been one of the reasons her parents fought often.

And when his temper got the better of him, all reason seemed to disappear. Kendall remembered a time he had gotten so angry with her for playing with his dinosaur collectables (or toys, as her mother, as well as the packaging, had always called them), that he had yelled at her for an hour straight, before grounding her in her room for the rest of the night. The following morning, Kendall had been so scared to bump into him she pretended to sleep in until noon, when he would have to be at work.

All because she had wanted to play with toys.

So when the envelope hit the ground again, Kendall knew her father would assume rejection. Not that she wanted anything to do with anything that belonged to him anymore. It wasn't like she would take the gift, given the choice. But she knew what her father would think, and she knew how he would react. She braced herself for the yelling, the best way she knew how. She shut her eyes and thought of something that made her happy. Right now, she was imagining herself finding and bonding to an energem. She didn't care for the colour, but purple came to mind. The plesiosaur – like the last gift her father had given her. The one that had given her hope that he still thought of her and that he would come back for her eventually.

She imagined becoming a Ranger, and feeling so strong that nothing could hurt her. She imagined being a part of something special. Of course, she was already one of the Rangers in a sense. She did design and build their weapons. But being one of them would really make her a part of the team.

So she thought of that as her father berated, and it got her through the yelling, until the slap. He must have realized she wasn't listening, so did as he often did with her mother, and struck her. It was only once, and then he walked away, just like with her mother. But it hurt.

Kendall cradled the side of her face as she watched her father walk away. When he turned the corner, she sighed loudly and looked to the ground. He had left the museum keys and the envelope. She picked up the museum keys, put them in her bag, then looked to the envelope. Her face was throbbing. She didn't want to have anything to do with her father, but if he had gone to all this trouble to hand the envelope to her, she had to figure out why.

Curiosity had gotten her this far in her career, but sometimes, it was a real bitch. Kendall opened up the envelope and peeked inside. There was a note – but more impressively, there was a lot of cash. Kendall didn't take anything out of the envelope, but she held on tightly to it as she walked around to the back of the museum and climbed into the mouth of the T-Rex head that acted as a secret entrance to her lab. She slid down, then set the envelope and her bag on her desk before she pulled out the cot and lay down to try to sleep.


	2. Tainted

Chase, Tyler, Riley and Shelby spent the morning working, but knew today was different from any other day. Koda wasn't at work with them, and it was past Kendall's usual lunch hour and she hadn't come to the cafe. Worried something Ranger related had taken place, when the rush at the cafe died and more staff came in for their shift, the four Rangers used their break time to head down to the lab.

"Kendall?" Chase called out and looked around, only to quickly be hushed by Koda.

"Sleep," he said, and pointed to the cot where Kendall lay. Shelby frowned.

"I didn't peg Ms. Morgan as being the sleeping in kind," she said. Koda shook his head.

"Come down late," he told her. "Then toss and turn long time before hear snoring."

"Ms. Morgan snores?" Tyler chuckled. "I didn't imagine her doing that either."

Koda frowned, "Not funny."

"I didn't mean anything by it," the red Ranger lifted his hands up. He knew how defensive Koda could get when it came to Kendall. The blue Ranger didn't like when people made fun of her and often stepped up in her defence even for the silliest of things. "I was just teasing."

"Rough night," Koda said, and waved the others to get in a little closer. It was then they noticed a couple light bruises on Kendall's arm, and one on the side of her face. "Not there last night," Koda told them.

"Think she ran into a couple of Fury's guys?" Riley asked.

"She's not stupid," Shelby frowned. "She'd have called for help."

"She did try to go after a rogue Zord on her own," Tyler reminded her. Koda shook his head.

"Worried."

"We'll talk to her when she wakes up," Tyler promised him. "But hey, she's here, she's safe now. It's okay."

"Holy..." Chase's voice suddenly gasped from over by Kendall's work station. The Rangers turned to him, all to remind him to keep his voice down, when they saw him holding up a huge stack of cash. Chase looked to them with a big smile. "Kendall's loaded!"

"She walks around with that much money on her?" Shelby frowned. "Wait, what are you doing going through her stuff?"

"I wasn't," Chase shook his head. "It was just sitting on the desk. Opened," he pointed to the envelope. "So I gave a little peek. Think she'll notice some of it missing?"

"No steal," Koda frowned and snatched the money from Chase. "When work hard like Kendall, Chase make just as much money."

"No way," Chase shook his head. "I will never make this much money, no matter how hard I work. Who knew Kendall was a millionaire!"

"I doubt that's a million dollars," Riley rolled his eyes.

"If this is her pocket cash, she's bound to have ten times this in the bank, at least!" Chase said. "What if we at least talked to her about making this Ranger stuff a paid gig? Like, five bucks for every Vivik we take out. Twenty for Fury or Sledge's guys and a hundred for each of them?"

"Plus, some for training," Riley smirked. Koda frowned, shook his head and started to put all the money back in the envelope.

"No take money from Kendall," he stated. "This Kendall's. Saving the world for good, not for money."

"We can do both?" Chase suggested. Koda frowned as he continued to put the money back, but he pushed a little too hard, ripped the envelope on the other side and all the cash fell out.

"Shoot," Koda muttered and bent over to pick it up. Chase and the others offered to help. Chase gathered up a good wad and stared at it longingly until Koda held out his hand.

"No keep," the blue Ranger reminded the black. Chase sighed and passed it over. But just before Koda could get his hands on it, Chase pulled it away.

"No, Chase!" Koda growled, but the black Ranger dropped all the cash in favour of what appeared to be a note. He couldn't stop himself from reading it.

"_Dear Kendall,"_ he read out loud to the others_, "My mother was wrong. Gambling does pay off. Hopefully this money will make up for me not being there for you growing up. Here's the money I borrowed, plus birthday money for the nineteen years I missed, and for the coming years. I'll be using my share of the winnings to move down to Florida to start a new life there. Best wishes, dad."_

"Gambling?" Shelby frowned. "I thought Kendall cancelled that check she gave him."

"Maybe it was too late?" Riley shrugged. "Maybe he cashed it before she could get to the bank."

"Wait, you mean he won with her money?" Chase frowned. "And he's only giving her a share?"

"A hefty share," Tyler said and held up the money he had in his hands. "I've counted ten grand right here, and there's still a lot more to pick up."

"I've got about twelve grand," Riley said as he held up one hand, then the other, "And this is fifteen."

"Thirty," Shelby said with a sigh as she passed the money over to Koda. "I'll never get to hold near that much again."

"Keep it," the Rangers suddenly heard Kendall say, and looked over to her cot to see her getting up. "Go ahead, keep everything you pick up. I don't need it."

"Sweet!" Shelby muttered and snatched the cash back from Koda. She looked to it for just a second before it was taken from her hands by Chase. "Hey!"

"Kendall," Chase walked over to her, with Shelby's money. "Who cares where this money came from. It's yours. It's to make up for all that stuff your dad did."

"Or didn't do," Riley said. Kendall looked to the Rangers, then shook her head.

"You think cash came make up for him not being around? For leaving me and my mother? For forcing me into foster care?"

"You're a foster kid?" Tyler asked. Kendall realized she had said too much and walked over to her computer, pretending to move past the issue. The Rangers, all forgetting about the money, followed her over.

"You never mentioned anything about foster care," Chase said. Koda looked to his friends.

"What foster care?"

"It's how the government looks after kids whose parents won't look after them," Riley explained to him. "How did you end up there, Ms. Morgan?"

"It doesn't matter," Kendall shook her head. "It's in the past. I've moved on."

"Ms. Morgan..."

"Can you all just drop it?" Kendall snapped and looked to each of them. "I don't want to talk about it. I don't want you guys giving me those pitiful looks. I'm not a child anymore; I'm your Ranger mentor."

"Yeah, but Kendall..."

"Enough," Kendall said. "Now, you guys can keep the money. Split it five ways, or fight each other for all of it. Consider it a bonus, or pay for being a Ranger. I don't care. Just... get back to work, alright?"

"Kendall..."

"Please, just drop it, Koda. That money came from my father. I want nothing to do with him and by extension, nothing to do with the money. I'm doing fine on my own, the museum is doing well, so I don't need it."

"You're sure?" Tyler asked. Kendall nodded her head and groaned.

"I've never been more sure of anything."

"I guess, it's ours," Tyler picked up what was left of the money around his feet. The others, minus Koda, did the same. As they were about to leave, Koda called out to Kendall one more time.

"Buy yourself a lot of burgers," Kendall responded to him. "Enjoy it."

Koda sighed and followed the others back up to the museum. Just as they were about to walk into the cafe, he called for them to stop.

"She doesn't want it," Chase shook his head. Koda looked down at the few bucks in his hands. It didn't feel right keeping it. He didn't completely understand what was going on, but something inside him told him it wasn't right to profit from the strained relationship between Kendall and her father.

"Not ours," he told the Rangers. Chase sighed, looked up to the blue Ranger and nodded.

"He's got a point," he whispered. The others groaned.

"Not you too..."

"This money would do wonders for me," Chase said. "But... the big guy's right. This money isn't ours."

"But it's Kendall's," Riley pointed out, "And she gave it to us. You wouldn't turn down a raise. Think of it..."

"This isn't a raise," Chase shook his head, then looked to Koda one more time, just to be sure he understood the blue Ranger correctly. Then he turned to the others, "This money's tainted. We might not know the details, but Kendall's father's trying to pay her off. He thinks any amount of cash can make up for what he did. After all, what would you rather have? A family, or cash?"

Tyler, Shelby and Riley looked down at the money in their hands as they thought of their family. For Tyler, the decision was quick as he thought of his father, and all the money he had spent travelling to find him. All this money, if he kept it, would help him continue that search, and take him places he knew his father had visited that he couldn't get to in his jeep.

But when he thought about where the money came from, how someone else had to lose their father for him to stand a chance at finding his again, he couldn't do it. It wasn't right. Kendall wasn't open about it, but it was obvious her father's disappearance had hurt her. Tyler couldn't profit off that pain. He would find his father the right way, and while he did, maybe he could help Kendall with her own problems.

So he offered his handful to Koda. Riley followed. Shelby hesitated. This money would take her far in life. She already had plans to use it to get into the best college and continue her education. This money would help her reach her dream of being a leading dinosaur expert, just like Kendall.

But when Shelby thought of her mentor, she sighed. Kendall had worked hard to earn her status. She had taken the same steps Shelby planned on taking, but had done so with a lot more weight on her shoulders. Back home, Shelby had a family that loved her and supported her. They believed she could do anything she set her mind on, and would do anything to help her.

Kendall had accomplished Shelby's dream alone, it seemed.

Shelby gave the money back to Koda. "I can save up my tips. Who needs thirty grand?"

"People tip bad service?" Riley teased her and Shelby gently shoved him.

"But, if we're not taking the money, and Ms. Morgan won't take it... what's going to happen to it?"

"Who cares?" Tyler asked.

"Give back," Koda said. Shelby shook her head.

"Ms. Morgan won't take the money," she reminded him.

"No," Koda said. "Foster home. Government take care of Kendall. We take care of government."

"Whoa, whoa," Chase grabbed the blue Ranger's shoulder before he left. "The government doesn't need Kendall's money. They won't know what to do with it."

"Money like fire," Koda said. "Need money to live. Government..."

"Take enough money from people, believe me," Chase said and snatched the envelope, but, I get what you're saying."


	3. Family

A few days after seeing her father again, Kendall looked at herself in the mirror. The bruises she had suffered trying to get away from him weren't too dark, and most had already faded, but the one on her face was still visible. Her father hit hard. It was no wonder there was no respect between her parents.

She covered it up as best as she could with make-up. Pretty much everyone at the museum had seen it already and asked her about it. She wouldn't share with them, stating they mind their own business. She hoped, the more she could cover it up, the less people would draw attention to it.

When she was ready for work, she made her way to the museum. She parked her car and as she stepped out she noticed a big banner hanging over the front of the building. She frowned deeply. She hadn't organized any events. Someone had gone rogue.

When she walked inside, she saw Shelby sitting behind a desk. That wasn't her job, and why was no one buying tickets to get into the museum. Every guest was walking up to Shelby, was paired up with a kid, and then walked right inside for free!

"Shelby!" Kendall growled and pulled the pink Ranger away. "What the hell is all this? What's the museum doing hosting a mentorship program? What _is_ a mentorship program?"

"It's for kids in foster care," Shelby stated, then went back to her seat and paired up a young woman with a little girl. "The first annual for the museum. We hope."

"Who organized this? We already do a lot of charity work. And with the," Kendall noticed the crowd of people around her and lowered her voice "energems still out there, we don't have time to do anything else."

"Relax, Ms. Morgan, everything's under control," Shelby promised. "Besides, we all thought you've been working hard lately, so you deserve a day off."

"You're the employee. I'm the boss. You don't tell me when to take a day off. And why aren't these people paying? Shelby, we need people to _buy_ tickets. They're what help fund all our research and our digs and..."

"Everything's already paid for," Shelby assured Kendall. "The guys are giving tours of the museum for free."

"The guys? You mean our guys?" Kendall asked and rolled her eyes. "Riley, I might be comfortable with. Maybe even Tyler. But Chase and Koda..."

"Koda is basically a living, breathing fossil. And besides, he loves kids," Shelby chuckled. "Don't tell me you doubt Koda."

"Well, I..."

"And Chase... well, he's keeping kids and their mentors entertained," Shelby said. "Everyone's got a smile on their face, and that's what today is about."

Shelby set up another pair, then got up, let another museum staff member take over, and walked with Kendall over to the entrance to the exhibits.

"This was kind of Chase's idea. But Koda had a big part in it, and the rest of us helped bring it to life," Shelby explained. "Look, I didn't get it at first, when you turned away so much money. But after you offered it to us, we all thought about some of the stuff you said, and what we know about how things worked out with your dad, and we decided we didn't want any of it either."

Kendall frowned and turned to Shelby, "But, you..."

"Ms. Morgan, I don't have to tell you we don't always see eye to eye," Shelby said. "But, that doesn't mean I'm going to take advantage of whatever happened to you growing up that made you so..."

Shelby trailed off when she saw the way Kendall was looking at her. She chuckled nervously.

"A little over adjusted," she said gently. "Look, I mean nothing bad by it, but you're kind of... Well, rough around the edges. When your dad first showed up I kind of understood why, but you mentioned foster care the other day and... well, none of us could imagine being where we are without our family. The fact that you've made so much out of yourself on your own is pretty amazing and we just want to help out with some of the other stuff."

"The other stuff?"

"You're going to make me say it, aren't you?"

"I'm going to need you to say it."

"We're friends, Ms. Morgan. You can depend on us. You've got to know that by now?"

"Shelby, I..."

"Maybe you didn't have much of a family growing up, but aren't we something of a family now? You're not alone anymore. Far from it."

"Shelby..."

"Neither are these kids," Shelby smiled. "The mentorship program invited kids who are in foster care waiting for a family to come to the museum for free for a trip. Their tickets were paid for by the money your father gave you."

"You invited foster kids? Shelby..."

"The adults they're paired up with were formerly foster kids. They grew up the same way you did. We reached out to as many as we could, and a surprising number showed up for such short notice. We're hoping, some of the kids and their new mentors will hit it off. That way, even if the kids don't end up finding a home, they'll have someone that can help them."

"Shelby..."

"We checked these guys out ourselves. We... kind of had to use your computer to do so. Riley hacked into police files and made sure none of the adults have criminal history. These are good people giving kids the chance they wish they had gotten."

Shelby then pointed over to a little girl, sitting on a bench without a mentor. "That kid over there, her name's Cammy. She was just put into foster care this month and she's not adapting as quickly as the social worker would like. She's never met her father and her mother just drank herself to death. She's not comfortable with any of the mentors I try to place her with so... I'm going out on a limb here and saying maybe you'll... mentor her?"

"Me?"

"If you're okay with that?" Shelby said. "Otherwise, I'll set her up with Koda. He won't really be able to mentor her, but when he came to pick up his second group, he was the only one that made her crack a smile."

"And you think I can get through to her?"

"I think it's worth a shot," Shelby said. Kendall looked to the little girl, then back to Shelby.

"You guys did all this with my father's money?"

"With your money," Shelby nodded. "You were right, no amount of cash makes up for what he did to you. But, maybe it can be used to make these kids smile, even just for a day."

Kendall nodded her head. It seemed like a good idea. She certainly could have used a compassionate ear growing up. Her foster family had tried to help her, but none of them had come from troubled homes. Her foster parents and her foster brother all had the life she wished she had. It made her resent them and push them away.

"Well, it couldn't hurt," Kendall said. She walked over to the bench and sat down next to Cammy. "This seat isn't taken, is it?"

Cammy shook her head. "No."

"Good. So, you don't want to see the dinosaurs?"

"They scare me," Cammy said and looked up to Kendall. "Dinosaurs eat people."

"Actually, they don't," Kendall shook her head. "At least, they couldn't. Dinosaurs and humans never lived together. By the time we showed up, these guys were long gone."

"I don't want to be here anyway," Cammy whispered. "I want to go home, but the stupid social lady says I can't."

"I heard," Kendall nodded. "You know, my mother used to drink a lot too."

"Mine too," Cammy said. "And when she drank, she got mad. Really mad. I didn't like it."

"Mine would get sad," Kendall said. "She'd be in her room, crying. Then, one day, she wasn't around anymore. She... left. Like yours."

"Your mother died of alcohol poisoning too?"

Kendall was a little shocked to hear someone so small utter those words. Then she remembered how quickly she had been forced to face grown up issues due to her upbringing. She should have known Cammy wouldn't need or appreciate the sugar coating.

"My mother killed herself," Kendall said. "She left a note on her bed and I found her drowned in the tub. There were wine bottles all around the house. She was drunk, but she knew what she was doing. She left me."

"Mine too," Cammy whispered, then reached into her pocket and pulled out a note. She gave it to Kendall. "Mine wrote this."

Kendall read it quickly. She didn't need to examine it long. It was exactly like the note her mother had left her.

"Cammy," Kendall whispered, put the note aside, and looked down at the little girl, "This doesn't define you. You know?"

"I don't know who my dad is, and he doesn't care. I wasn't good enough for my mother... no one's going to want to adopt me," Cammy muttered and rubbed her eyes. Kendall saw the tears and put her arm around her.

"I felt like that at your age," Kendall said, then looked up at the boys came back from their tours to collect their next groups of kids and mentors. "But look at me now."

"I don't know you," Cammy said. Kendall chuckled and pointed to the boys and Shelby.

"You see those workers. They're my... family now."

"Are you sure?"

"I'll never be completely sure," Kendall admitted. "But I care about them. And I don't know why they even bother, but they care about me too."

"No one cares about me."

"I do," the words slipped out of Kendall. She hadn't meant to say them, but once they were out, she didn't want to take them back. She looked to Cammy with a little smile and nodded her head. "I care."

"You do?"

Kendall nodded again, then stood up and offered her hand. "Come on. I promise the dinosaurs aren't so scary."

"I don't know..."

Kendall knelt down and looked Cammy in the eyes, "I promise, nothing's going to hurt you again, okay. As long as I'm here..."

"You can't promise that," Cammy shook her head. "You just work at the museum. When this place closes..."

Kendall reached into her jacket and pulled out a business card. On the back, she wrote her cell phone number.

"If you ever need me," she said. Cammy took the card, looked to it skeptically, then up at Kendall.

"Why do you care?"

"I don't know," Kendall answered honestly.

"For a scientist, you don't know a lot of stuff," Cammy muttered. Kendall looked curious.

"How did you know I was a scientist?"

"I read."

"Research papers?"

"You think I read those stupid picture books they've got lying around the home? Do I look like a baby to you?"

"I... No, you don't," Kendall said. She put her hands on Cammy's arms. "Alright, I'll level with you, then. Parents, they like little kids. A lot of people consider adopting babies, straight out of the belly. They don't want older kids. Not many. So the odds any parents pick you are pretty slim."

"You should stick to dinosaurs," Cammy rolled her eyes. "Because you're motivational speeches suck. You're supposed to tell me what everyone else tells me. That someone will adopt me."

"I was told that," Kendall said. "I was told I would only be with my foster family for a few weeks, then a few months, and then suddenly I was eighteen. Everyone lied to me, and I hated it. So I won't lie to you."

"I should have gone with the guy dressed as a caveman," Cammy muttered. Kendall looked her in the eyes.

"Do you want to know how to tell if someone cares, Cammy?"

"They lie to make you feel good?"

"They respect you enough to tell you the truth, even when it hurts," Kendall said. "It's the lies that hurt more than anything. Getting your hopes up, only for them to come crashing down over and over again. That's what damaged me, growing up. And I'm not going to let that happen to you. So I'm not going to lie to you, Cammy. This foster care stuff, it sucks. But it's not the end and you don't have to get through it alone."

Kendall pointed to the business card, "I'm here, okay. You've got my work number, my cell phone number, and you know where the museum is. Stop by whenever you want. Or give me a call. If you just want to talk or hang out or anything, I'll be there."

"To crush my dreams?"

"Just the opposite," Kendall smiled. "If dinosaurs scare you, what else can we do? I can talk to your social worker to see if we can find somewhere else to go."

"I... I kind of want to see the dinosaurs," Cammy whispered. Kendall frowned.

"You do?"

"The more you know about something, the less it scares you, right?"

"Most of the time," Kendall nodded her head. "So, you want to learn about dinosaurs?"

"Maybe, if I understand them better, they won't seem so scary."

"You're a smart kid, Cammy."

"I studied a lot. You know, to keep out of mom's hair when she was drinking."

"I studied hard too. I thought it would bring my dad back."

"We have a lot in common, don't we?" Cammy asked. Kendall nodded her head.

"Sounds like we do."

"And you promise the dinosaurs won't hurt me?"

"Nothing will," Kendall said and pointed to the card. "I won't let it."

"We'll see," Cammy said doubtfully, but with a hint of hope. Kendall knew the tone. It was one she tried to avoid using, but had let slip more and more with the Rangers. Perhaps that was why they thought they could continuously pry into her life. Not that she minded... as much... anymore. Kendall offered her hand, and Cammy took it. As they walked into the first exhibit, Kendall saw Cammy smile at the closest fossil.

"Whoa! Who was that?"

"The stegosaurus," Kendall smiled, and brought Cammy over a little closer. "A big herbivore."

"That means he wouldn't eat people."

"Exactly. Stegosaurus is part of the ornithischian dinosaurs, which means bird hipped."

"So, birds do come from dinosaurs?"

"Kind of, but not these kids," Kendall chuckled. "Oddly enough, birds are saurischian, which means lizard hip."

"Scientists aren't as smart as they claim."

"We're sometimes wrong," Kendall agreed. "By the time we realized the mistake, it was too late to find new names. But ornithiscians and birds do have similar hip structures. That is what caused the confusion in the first place."

"But birds come from other dinosaurs?"

"Not quite," Kendall said, and walked Cammy over to one of many T-Rex skeletons. "Birds are relatives to dinosaurs like this one. Just like the T-Rex, birds are saurischians and therapods."

"So, chickens are like the T-Rex. T-Rex is just a big chicken?" Cammy laughed. Kendall nodded her head.

"It's a little more complicated than that, but yeah. Dinosaurs from this group were believed to be feathered, at one point in their life."

"A feathered T-Rex? That's not so scary."

"Told you," Kendall chuckled, then moved on to explain the next dinosaur group to Cammy.

-Dino-Charge-

"I am wiped," Chase announced as he walked into the Dino Lab. He found a chair and fell into it. "Kids are exhausting."

"I think, after today, I'm never going to want to talk about dinosaurs again," Riley nodded his head. "And anyone else have a kid who was convinced cavemen owned dinosaurs as pets?"

All the Rangers raised their hands, and Koda looked most irritated of all.

"Never seen dinosaur before met Kendall," he said. "Still barely know what stegosaurus it," he admitted, causing the others to chuckle. It was then Kendall arrived down into the lab, and surprised the others with her big smile.

"Looks like someone had a good day, at least," Chase muttered. "I saw you walking around with that little girl. I take it things went well?"

"Cammy?" Kendall nodded. "Yeah, really great, actually. She's went from fearing dinosaurs, to loving them. I just dropped her off with her foster parents, and they were surprised by the number of stuffed dinosaurs I let her leave with."

"Seriously? You and kids?" Tyler asked. "You can barely tolerate us."

Kendall looked to her teammates when he said this and seemed a little regretful, "I know I can be a bit... rough around the edges," she turned to Shelby as she said that. "It's just... this is all a little new to me."

"Really, because I've been a Ranger my whole life," Riley muttered. Chase nudged him in the ribs.

"I meant this... family thing. You guys all know by now that mine wasn't exactly ideal," Kendall walked to her desk, started up her computer, then looked back to the Rangers with a smile, "I just wanted to thank you all for setting this up today. A lot of kids seemed really happy. You guys can't begin to understand what that means to them. And many of them seemed to really bond with their mentors. If this works out... they're going to have family no matter how foster care turns out for them."

"Cammy seemed to be one of those kids that made a connection," Tyler smiled. "You plan on checking in with her at some point?"

Kendall nodded her head. "Her foster parents and the social worker agreed to let her come here after school every Friday," Kendall said. "She can tour the museum or shadow me at work."

"At work?"

"Museum work," Kendall promised. "Don't worry, I won't be showing her the dino lab."

Kendall did some typing on her computer, just for a brief moment, then looked up at the Rangers with a smile. "So, given the price of admission for each mentor and child, minus Cammy's ticket, plus the cost of all the gift bags you all handed out, plus the lunches, plus, salary for the employees you roped into working on their days off, you guys ate up a huge chuck of the money my father left to me."

"Well, you made it clear you didn't want it," Chase said and scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I hope you weren't kidding, because... well..."

"There's still some money left," Kendall said. "You guys turned something bag for me into something good for a lot of people. I can see why the energems chose you five."

"Is that a compliment?" Tyler asked. Shelby smacked his arm.

"Shh, you might scare it off."

"Like I said, there's still some money left. Split five ways, that should leave you all with just over two grand each."

"Us?" Shelby asked. "But Ms. Morgan, the..."

"I don't need it, Shelby. And after this event, the museum's going to get a lot of positive attention. People are going to show interest. I figure, the best place I can put it, is with you five. Do what you wish. And thank you, all five of you. Today really meant a lot to me."

The Rangers all smiled at Kendall, then headed back upstairs to claim their money. Everyone, except Koda. He stuck back and watched Kendall work for a minute before she noticed he was still there.

"Koda, you know how many burgers you can buy with two grand? Go on. I mean it."

"Koda only need one burger," he told her, then pointed to the fridge where Kendall left food for him. "Dinner time?"

"Right. I almost forget," she nodded and picked out a burger from the fridge. She offered it to Koda. "Here, you eat. I just had a plate of fries with Cammy.

Koda took a bite of the burger, then shook his head. "Well, was hungry, but not what meant. Money have no value to Koda."

Kendall looked to him. Koda smiled, "Happy to see Kendall happy with friends."

"Koda, that's sweet."

"Kendall realize she has family now?" Koda asked. Kendall gave him a little nod.

"I do."

"So, Kendall trust Rangers more."

"I'll try to be a little more open," Kendall smiled. Koda smiled back as he finished his burger. Then he looked down at his empty hands with a sigh. Kendall offered him another.

"I guess you saying you only needed one burger was figurative?"

Koda nodded and wolfed down the second.

"Eating burgers with Kendall worth more than two grand," he said. Kendall chuckled.

"You're not sure how much that is, are you?"

"No," Koda shook his head.

"At five bucks a burger, two grand is four hundred burgers."

"More than I can eat at once!" Koda gasped, then shook his head. "Make Koda sick. Not worth it."

"I know what you mean," Kendall smiled to Koda. "Eating dinner with you and knowing the Rangers have my back... that's worth more than any amount of money dad can give me."

Kendall looked at the note from her father that Chase had left on her desk. "At least now he's gone for good. No more bump ins."

"No more fights?" Koda pointed to Kendall's face, where the bruise was hidden under her make-up. Kendall sighed.

"You figured out it was him, didn't you?"

"Father better be gone," Koda said and cracked his knuckles. "Regret coming back. Koda makes sure of it."

Kendall smiled as she offered Koda a third burger, "You still hungry?"

He snatched it from her and practically swallowed it without chewing. Kendall smiled.

"Wow, touring the museum really works up an appetite in you, doesn't it?"

"Soo hungry," Koda said. Kendall chuckled.

"Alright, how about we take this up to the cafe? We'll use your two grand to fill up that stomach of yours. Whatever's left will go to getting you some real groceries."


End file.
